EQS-News: R. STAHL sales and order intake at a high level in the first quarter of 2024

R. STAHL sales and order intake at a high level in the first quarter of 2024

• At € 92.3 million, order intake in the first quarter of 2024 were close to the extremely high level of the previous year (€ 96.7 million) and significantly higher than the figure for the fourth quarter of 2023 (€ 74.5 million).
• Sales up 8.5% year-on-year to € 84.7 million from January to March.
• One-time items push profitability below the strong figure from the previous year EBITDA pre exceptionals decreased from € 10.4 million in the previous year to € 8.4 million in the first three months of 2024. This resulted in an EBITDA margin pre exceptionals of 9.9% (previous year: 13.3 %).
• For 2024, R. STAHL expects sales to increase to between € 335 million and € 350 million and EBITDA pre exceptionals of between € 35 million and € 40 million.

Waldenburg, 10 May 2024 – R. STAHL got off to a strong start in financial year 2024. Demand for the company’s products and services picked up again in nearly all regions and sectors in the first quarter of 2024, after development in the fourth quarter of 2023 was somewhat subdued.

Order intake of € 92.3 million at a high level – order backlog increases to € 122.0 million

The increased willingness on the part of customers to invest led to an order intake of € 92.3 million from January to March 2024. Although this figure was down 4.6% on the high prior-year figure of € 96.7 million, it was significantly higher than the order volume for the fourth quarter of 2023 (€ 74.5 million). While the order situation in the Central region (Africa, Europe not including Germany) remained virtually unchanged in the first quarter compared to the previous year, the order volume in Germany (-10.6%), the Americas
(-6.2%) and Asia/Pacific (-7.3%) fell. Order intake from the chemical industry in particular slowed compared to the previous year. There was positive momentum from all other customer sectors, however. As a result of the overall good demand in the first three months of 2024, order backlog increased to € 122.0 million as of 31 March (31 December 2023: € 115.1 million).

International regions push 8.5% growth in sales to € 84.7 million

Easing bottlenecks in supply chains led to higher utilization of production capacities in the first quarter of 2024. The key sales drivers included orders from the nuclear sector, shipbuilding and the oil industry. Overall, R. STAHL increased its sales by 8.5% to € 84.7 million from January to March 2024. The main contributors to this increase were the Americas region with growth of 26.4% and the Central region (Africa, Europe not including Germany) with growth of 18.2%. Sales in Germany, on the other hand, declined slightly (-8.1%), while sales in Asia/Pacific remained virtually unchanged (+1.2%).

At € 8.4 million, EBITDA pre exceptionals was below the previous year’s strong figure of € 10.4 million due to high one-time items

Despite an increase in the company's total operating performance, EBITDA pre exceptionals decreased from € 10.4 million in the previous year to € 8.4 million in the period from January to March 2024. This was mainly due to one-time items resulting from the implementation of the EXcelerate strategy program and higher personnel costs, mainly due to collective bargaining agreements. Profitability as measured by the EBITDA margin pre exceptionals decreased from the extraordinarily strong figure of 13.3% in the previous year to 9.9%. Net profit decreased from € 3.9 million to € 2.1 million. This corresponds to earnings per share of € 0.33 (previous year: € 0.60).

The increased volume of business from January to March led to an increase in inventories and thus to an increase in working capital of € -7.4 million. This was, however, below the previous year’s figure of € -15.3 million. This had a positive impact on free cash flow, which at € -4.3 million was € 4.4 million higher than in the previous year (Q1 2023:
€ -8.7 million). The equity ratio of 25.1% was slightly improved (31 December 2023: 25.0%).

Good first quarter 2024 confirms outlook for full-year 2024

For 2024, the company expects further growth in the relevant key markets based on the overall economic and industry-specific forecasts.

The high order backlog that R. STAHL started 2024 with, as well as the good demand in the first quarter of 2024, mean that the company can look ahead to full-year 2024 with careful optimism. The Executive Board expects Group sales to grow to between € 335 million and € 350 million (2023: € 330.6 million).

Profitability in the current financial year should stabilize at around the very good level of the previous year. A high level of investment for additional growth, increasing price sensitivity on the part of customers as well as rising personnel costs are likely to have a temporary negative impact on earnings development. The Executive Board expects EBITDA pre exceptionals to be between € 35 million and € 45 million in 2024 (2023: € 38.6 million). In terms of free cash flow, R. STAHL expects a medium single-digit positive million euro amount in 2024 (2023: € 0.3 million).

“There was a noticeable recovery in demand for R. STAHL products in the first quarter. This makes us confident that, with the strategy we are pursuing, we will continue to grow and generate stable earnings in 2024”, says Dr. Mathias Hallmann, CEO of R. STAHL.

Key figures of R. STAHL Group for Q1 2024 pursuant to IFRS

¹⁾ Africa and Europe without Germany
²⁾ Exceptionals: restructuring charges, unscheduled depreciation and amortization, charges for designing and implementing IT projects, M&A costs, gains and losses from deconsolidation processes as well as profit and loss from the disposal of assets no longer required for business operations
³⁾  Payments for investments in intangible assets and property, plant & equipment
⁴⁾ excl. pension provisions and without lease liabilities
⁵⁾ excl. apprentices

Percentages and figures in may include rounding differences. The signs used to indicate rates of changes are based on mathematical aspects. Rates of changes > +100% are shown as >+100%, rates of change <-100% as „n/a“ (not applicable)
 

Note
The quarterly statement Q1 2024 is available for download under the following link: https://r-stahl.com/en/global/corporate/investor-relations/ir-news-and-publications/financial-reports

Financial calendar
27 June 2024  31^st Annual General Meeting
8 August 2024  Interim Report H1 2024
6 November 2024  Quarterly Statement Q3 2024

About R. STAHL – www.r-stahl.com
R. STAHL is the world's leading supplier of electrical and electronic products and systems for explosion protection. These products and systems prevent explosions in hazardous areas and contribute to the safety of people, machines and the environment. The portfolio ranges from products used in switching/distributing, installing, operating/monitoring, lighting and signaling/alarming up to automation.

Typical customers are the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, the oil & gas industry - including LNG applications - as well as the food and beverage industry. Most of the R. STAHL products are also approved for use with hydrogen. In 2023 global sales amounting to around € 331 million were generated by 1,721 employees. The shares of R. STAHL AG are traded on the Regulated Market/Prime Standard of Deutsche Boerse (ISIN DE000A1PHBB5).

Forward-looking statements
This release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions and estimates of R. STAHL’s management. Although we assume that the expectations of these forward-looking statements are realistic, we cannot guarantee that these expectations will prove to be correct. The assumptions may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such discrepancies include: changes in the macroeconomic and business environment, exchange rate and interest rate fluctuations, the roll-out of competing products, a lack of acceptance of new products or services, and changes in business strategy. R. STAHL does not plan to update these forward-looking statements nor does it accept any obligation to do so.